The Price of Power
by Lacey
Summary: When does the price of power become to high? Ganon will soon find out as the Triforce of Power falls into his possession.
1. The Beginning

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing! I only wrote this out of a desire for some good old fashioned toying with characters' heads. I've had the basic idea behind this fic in my head for several years now, but it's just now sifted to the part of my mind that's connected to my fingers. This is more based on the old Zelda cartoon than the Zelda games, but since the cartoon is based on the game then this story can claim to have roots in the game! Also, this is based on the original NES version of Zelda. Fear my old-schoolness! 

**The Price of Power**

**Chapter 1: The Beginning**

The forest of the kingdom of Hyrule sprawled hugely across the land. It was a forest as all forests are - a land where nature rules and only the fit survive. The beasts and plants of the land had learned long ago that the best way of ensuring peace was by following the unwritten law of the land. The weak fell prey to the strong. The strong eventually grew weak and fell prey to those stronger. Everyday life in the forest was always about survival. No creature was above these laws - not even man.And so no animal gave a second glance as a boy barely old enough to be considered a man lunged through their territory. Other than the soft pad-pad of bare feet on the forest loam, the only sound from the boy was the deep ragged gasping of one near exhaustion. 

The boy was as of an average height, but so lean and willowy that he appeared tall unless one was right next to him. Body paint - once spread lovingly across the boy's body in delicate swirling patterns - was smeared and streaked from sweat. If the boy had allowed his hair to grow out, he would've had a thick mane which just begged to have fingers run through it. As it was, though, his head was shaved except for a ponytail at the base of his skull. He bore no ornamentation except in the form of a golden earring in the shape of a boar - the boy's totem animal. The boy was of the Kunai - a wandering tribe whose presence was thought to be ill fortune among many people. And so the boy was being hunted like one of the beasts in the forest he called home. 

The boy ran as if his life depended on his speed, for so it did. Ever-closer behind him, he could hear the incessant baying of hounds. "Kunai coward!" a rough voice behind him taunted. "Face your death like a man! Or are the stories true? Are your kind more beast than man? Do not run, oh lover of beasts!" Course laughter followed the remarks. The boy wanted so desperately to stop and face his hunters, but to do so would only mean his death. He was learning the arts of the shaman, not the warrior. 

It hadn't been his fault! He'd just been a witness to the accident, not the cause. The boy had only been passing by when the horse threw its rider. But because he was Kunai and he was present, he was blamed. And so the chase had begun. The hunters had an easy task in getting others to join. All they had to do was mention that their prey was Kunai. 

But if it was at all possible, the boy would cheat these hunters of their prey! A relieved grunt escaped the boy's lips as a stream came into sight. Finally he could lose the dogs! Wading into the ice cold water, the boy began forging his way upstream, letting his scent drift downstream for the dogs to follow. "Thank you, Raab," the boy prayed to his totem between teeth clenched against the cold. "Thank you for guiding my feet to this stream." He could not stop, though. Not yet. Not with the hunters so close. Not with certain death on his heels. And so the boy forged on. 

Only when the sounds of dog and man were left far behind did the boy slow his frantic pace. Numbed from the waist down and too exhausted to take another step, the boy flung himself to the shore and crashed into the soft ground. Sleeping now, the boy knew, would lead only to his death. But he no longer had the strength or energy to go on further, and so he began to drift off. _'At least,'_the boy thought to himself. _'__At least this will be a painless death...'_

The boy's musings were interrupted by a frail, wheezing voice. "Up! Up, Ganon of the Kunai! Your time has not yet come." So startled at hearing his name, the boy managed to jerk his head up and look around. Just ahead, a cave rose up like a hungry mouth out of the ground - the inside lit by a crackling fire. Drawing on reserves of strength that he hadn't known he possessed, the boy began pulling himself inch by inch over the rough ground. Now that there was a goal in sight, he could make it. The fire wasn't that far. Just a little more... Almost there... 

The last sight Ganon of the Kunai beheld before he collapsed into a dreamless sleep was the face of an old man with a strip of cloth wrapped around his eyes. 

~*~*~*~*~ 

When Ganon next knew the world, warm noon sun warmed his back as he lay sprawled in the entrance of the cave the cave. How long he had been asleep, he couldn't guess. But at least the bone-numbing weariness was gone. Sitting up slowly, Ganon began to inch to his feet. The old man was still there, blind to the world, but cocking his head towards Ganon. "Welcome, Ganon, savior of the Kunai. Welcome, Ganon, destroyer of the Kunai." 

Ganon considered sitting silently and hoping the sightless one would think he'd left, but no such lick. "Come, come," the old man murmured. "Come and share old Melnas's lunch. There is plenty, and surely you are hungry after your run." Not able to refute that logic, and even less able to turn his back on the smell of warm stew drifting through the cave, Ganon crept closer to the fire pit. "Eat as much as you like," the old man - Melnas - encouraged. "There is bread in the satchel." 

Deftly, Ganon filled the only two bowls present with the stew - setting one bowl in the waiting hands of Melnas and keeping the other for himself. "How do you know me?" the boy asked before sipping at the stew. 

Melnas smiled an enigmatic smile. "The very rocks echo with your name, boy. You will do great things... Great and terrible things!" He waved a bone-thin hand around. "All that you see may one day be yours. Or it might not be." 

_'Great,'_ Ganon decided. _'The old man has lost his mind.'****_

Melnas paused to take a great slurp of stew. Wiping his mouth, he turned again to face the boy. Then he pulled the strip of cloth and stared at the boy intently with milky blind eyes. "I know you boy because I have Seen you. My sight I gave up long ago for Sight. I have Seen you lead the Kunai, not your older brother. I have seen you change the Kunai and make them strong and fierce... And dangerous. But I have not Seen all that the future holds for you. For your path is too clouded with possibilities to completely know. The future is not written in stone. Rather, it is like a crack in a stone. It branches out in many directions, and each direction holds a different termination. But some things absolutely must happen or that stone of time will crumble completely." 

"And you're here to make sure those things happen," Ganon finished for the old man, and was rewarded with a confirming nod. 

Feeling for his sleeping fur, Melnas pulled back the edge and held up a small pyramid of brilliant ruby. Ganon's breath caught in his throat. He'd heard legends, but surely this couldn't be... Why would this old man have - "The Triforce of Power," Melnas purred, cradling the object like a child. "The source of the strongest magic in all of Hyrule. It makes your Kunai spells seem as mere parlor tricks. When this Triforce is Linked with the sister Triforce - the Triforce of Wisdom - the bearer of both will be ruler of all Hyrule. So it is woven in Time's tapestry, and so it shall be. I lay the Triforce of Power in your charge, Ganon of the Kunai. Your destiny is to wield the Triforce until the Link unites it with the sister Triforce." 

Ganon stared in dumbfounded shock as Melnas held the Triforce out to him. "You can't mean... No! Impossible! I cannot - will not - accept this!" But even as he spoke, Ganon knew he lied. He wanted that jewel more than he'd ever wanted anything in his life. Caressing that cool red surface - knowing every inch of the Triforce - became more important even than living. And the depths of Ganon's desire frightened him. 

Torn between his desire and fear, Ganon reached out and brushed his trembling fingers over the Triforce. Immediately, a light flared to life in the center of the jewel. Melnas merely continued to smile that enigmatic smile as he waited with infinite patience. "It knows, boy. It knows the touch of its possessor." Steeling his nerves, Ganon seized the Triforce from the old man. And the Triforce of Power responded by filling with a soft, warm glow. Awestruck, Ganon cuddled the Triforce against his chest. The jewel felt more like a living thing than a chunk of cold rock as its power and warmth thrummed into Ganon. 

"There is more, boy," Melnas continued. "When you return to your people, you must have a sword made. This sword is not for you, but for the Link. It must be a good sword. And it must be strong. Infuse it with the power of light so that it might vanquish monsters of the dark. It will be called the Crissword, and it must be hidden away once it is completed so that the Link may find it and wield it in the service of the Triforce. Once it is hidden, use the Triforce to wipe the knowledge of the sword's hiding place from your mind. Do you understand?"  
  
Ganon nodded quietly. A sword of light... He would see it made so that destiny could be played out. After all, surely a hero wielding a Kunai sword was meant to deliver the Triforce of Wisdom into Kunai hands. And a Kunai king ruling all of Hyrule could mean the end of the persecution of the Kunai. Yes, Ganon would see to it this sword was made even if he had to cast the metal with his own hands. 

Ganon was jerked out of his reverie by a hand on his shoulder. "And lastly, boy, I have a warning." Ganon shivered at the intensity in Melnas's voice. "The Kunai still have many hard years ahead of them. The current king is full of a dark hatred for your tribesmen, and he will seek to purge the land of all Kunai. I know that those of your tribe are people of the forest, but the forests will not protect you. Remember this place, Ganon, for it holds the salvation of your people." 

Swallowing hard, Ganon began studying the cavern closely, determined to commit every stone and speck of dust to memory. He squinted into the dark gloom of the cavern, but could discern no end to its dark depths. But he would not forget this cave - not if it would keep his people alive. "Thank you, Mel-," Ganon began, only to realize that he was talking to an empty cavern. The seer was gone. And so with a new treasure and new hopes and dreads, Ganon started for home. 


	2. The Purge

**Disclaimer:** Once again, I own nothing. And once again, this is based on the Zelda cartoon which was based on the Zelda game. Heck, the only Zelda games I'm even familiar with are: Zelda (original NES, baby!), Zelda II The Adventures of Link (again, original NES), and that one with the Wind Fish (GB). I don't even know when Ganon became Ganondorf. But nothing beats the old-school stuff! 

**The Price of Power**

**Chapter 2: The Purge**

Because the Kunai were a wandering tribe, their village was made to travel easily. Simple tents served as shelters, and, with the exception of livestock, none of the Kunai owned anything that couldn't be carried by hand. The camp could be assembled and taken apart in under an hour. And thus when Ganon skidded into the campsite, he was not necessarily surprised to see it empty of life. But he never expected to find it full of death. Bodies littered the site - not the whole tribe, but still a good number. The tents remained - many trampled, some burning, none unscathed. 

Ganon stepped gingerly through the carnage, trying not to look at the bodies that had once been friends and family. So much was gone in such a short time - homes, loved ones... Mingled among the bodies of the Kunai was the occasional soldier in the king's livery. A grim smile crossed Ganon's lips at the sight. It was good to know that at least the Kunai didn't accept their deaths passively. 

Outside of his family's tent, Ganon froze. Two Kunai bodies lay surrounded by ten soldiers. A sick fear knotted Ganon's stomach as he turned the bodies over. "Father! Radon!" Ganon slumped to the ground, a keening wail erupting from his slender body as he mourned the loss of both father and brother. Not an hour before he'd expected to come home to triumphantly display his treasure, but now that home lay in ruins. The Triforce of Power meant nothing compared to the loss before Ganon. 

Ganon knelt before the bodies of his father and brother until dawn's rosy fingertips brushed away the night sky. He'd cried until he had no more tears, and then he'd remained motionless, staring unblinkingly at the bodies. Now, though, he rose. There was much to be done! 

Finding a pouch whose owner no longer had need of it, Ganon placed the Triforce inside and belted it around his waist. Now he could work without the temptation of magic. And work he did! He toiled through the heat of the day, dragging bodies to the center of the camp. Kunai and Hyrulian lay together in death. Ganon had decided that he couldn't leave the soldiers' souls to wander the afterlife for eternity. These were just men who were following orders, not the men giving the orders. And so through the stink of death and gathering clouds of biting flies, Ganon worked to make a funeral pyre. 

When the last body had joined the pile, Ganon slumped back to the ground. Weariness gnawed at his bones, but the task was nearing completion. Just a little more and he would be finished, and the dead would have peace. Again Ganon stood and began ravaging the meager supplies left in the camp. He did not need much, but the invaders had left so little... After some scavenging, though, Ganon found what he needed. 

Carrying a bag of salt, Ganon circled the funeral pyre. He sang in a low, warbling voice as he walked in measured steps, sprinkling the salt around the bodies. Ganon knew the ritual. He'd performed it before, but never for so many at once. Salt for purity - no demon could cross the circle of salt to kidnap a wayward soul. And the hymn called upon the totem spirits of the Kunai to lead the dead. Normally one would only call upon the totem of the deceased, but with so many gone, Ganon felt it safer to just call upon all of the totems so that no one would be left out. 

Within the pouch, the Triforce flared and thrummed in tune to the hymn. Ganon barely noticed until he realized he was not alone. Phantom shapes of mist weaved through the pyre. Occasionally a shape would pause and begin to take form. The totem spirits! Ganon could only stare, for this was the first time he'd ever actually seen the totems during a ceremony. Here a wolf sniffed out a soul, there a beaver swam to a soul... So many totems had come to take the dead away! Ganon's thoughts drifted towards the Triforce. "If it is you that allows me to see this," he whispered, "then thank you." 

As Ganon watched, one phantom creature approached him, becoming more solid as it came closer; until, at last, Raab the Boar stood before Ganon. Ganon fell to his knees, leaning forward until his forehead pressed against the ground. But Raab merely snorted and snuffled at the boy. Hesitantly, Ganon sat up and met the boar's sad gaze. As Ganon stared into those twin pools of darkness, he found himself seeing other places. Smaller bands of Kunai huddled close together in hiding. Some of the places Ganon knew, but most he did not. "I will find them all," Ganon swore as he remembered Melnas's warning. "I will find them all and bring them to the cave." 

Raab nodded in what Ganon hoped was approval, and then the scene changed again. The royal palace of Hyrule filled Ganon's vision. In the courtyard strode a colossal man in an ermine trimmed robe - King Harken of Hyrule. The king stormed back and forth before his advisors, flecks of spittle flying as he shouted and gestured wildly. And then Ganon heard the words. "Destroy them!" the king roared. "Those filthy Kunai are responsible for my son's death! I wanted the land purged of those beast-lusting monsters! And I will not rest until the last Kunai is dead!" 

With an almost audible snap, Ganon was flung back into his own body, eyes wide with horror. _'Purge...'_ Raab's voice whispered in Ganon's mind. _'The Purge began when the prince was thrown from his horse and the Kunai were blamed.'_ Raab turned away, back to the bodies. He still had dead to guide, after all. 

"Purge..." Ganon repeated with a sense of growing horror. He remembered the man he had seen thrown from a horse and he shuddered. Ganon could hardly dare believe that he'd witnessed the death of a prince, and that now his people were blamed. Neither Ganon nor his people had anything to do with that death! Fate had merely dealt the prince an unlucky blow. But King Harken obviously needed someone to blame. 

As the last of the phantom shapes vanished, Ganon rose once again. He crossed the salt circle and began sprinkling the bodies with oil. He could not bury so many, but he could at least see to it that no scavenger desecrated the corpses. Once all the oil was gone, Ganon struck a torch and hurled the flame into the pyre. The bodies lit almost at once. 

Ganon did not stay to watch the bodies burn. He'd said his good-byes while the totems were sorting out the souls. Nothing more could be done for the dead, but there were still the living to seek out. Ganon wrapped up the few meager supplies he'd been able to find and belted on his father's sword. The blade was sharp and able to cleave through armor as though it were warm butter. The hilt was a good strong steel plated in gold, with a ruby on the end to weight it and give it balance. Besides the ruby, the sword bore no other ornamentation. Staring at the blade, Ganon thought on his father's words. "It is a sword, son, and it does what a sword must. Other swords may look better, but they are not as strong or good." The Crissword, Ganon decided, would be modeled after his father's sword. 

And so with sword, food, and Triforce, Ganon marched into the woods, heading away from civilization. The Kunai would not be near cities. They would hide in deepest forest, avoiding people like skittish deer. But Ganon would find his people, and he would bring them to safety. 

~*~*~*~*~ 

After three days of steady travel, Ganon began to wish that the stories about the Kunai being able to turn into animals were true. If he could turn into a boar, he knew he would not feel the weariness of travel as strongly. Yet still Ganon continued to push himself. He ate as he walked, and only stopped to rest when it became too dark to travel. Fearful of being found by soldiers, he would burrow under leaves at night to sleep. But as the trees pressed around thicker, Ganon began to lose some of his fear. Surely the soldiers would not come this deep into the forest, where their horses could barely move for the trees. At least, not yet. But Ganon suspected that King Harken would eventually order them to come. A shudder rocked Ganon's slim frame whenever he thought of the Purge and the shattered remains of his home. 

On the morning of the fourth day, Ganon was rudely awakened by the butt of a spear poking at him through his nest of leaves. "Rise slowly," a rough voice commanded. "Make any sudden moves and they will be your last." Ganon rose. He wanted to wipe away the dirt and leaves and bugs, but now was not the time. Instead he remained still as three Kunai men circled him. At last the one with the spear spoke again. "If you are truly Kunai, speak the name of your totem. If you are from the castle, leave now and we will let you live." 

"I follow Raab the Boar," Ganon answered, crossing his arms in front of his chest. These men were of his tribe and he would not be chased away. One man stood guard while the other two pulled away to converse. Ganon merely waited, as these were some of those he sought. At last the men motioned for Ganon to follow and began to slide silently through the forest, seeming little more than shadows. Ganon kept pace easily as he was led to a rude encampment. 

Tents stitched together from scraps dotted the camp, and Ganon noted that there were more sleeping pallets than there were tents. Most of the people slept without shelter. An eerie quiet hovered about the area as men, women, and children went about their daily tasks. The threat of the Purge was still all too real, and these people were aware of it. 

Ganon was led to one of the fires and motioned for him to sit. Ganon did so and found himself across from a middle-aged man whose dark hair was streaked with grey. The man regarded Ganon with the sharp eyes of a hunter; eyes which lingered on the boar-shaped earring worn by Ganon. "I am Ranu," the man said at last. "We have had several from the palace try to infiltrate our camp. They now walk the paths of the dead. If you are not Kunai, you will join them." 

_'A suspicious lot,'_ Ganon thought. But then, that suspicion was probably all that kept these people from being slaughtered. Without a word, Ganon flicked his fingers in a Kunai hunter signal for caution. Ranu smiled and repeated the gesture. The hand language was unique to the Kunai, and few outsiders knew of it, much less how to communicate with it. "Why do you come to us?" Ranu murmured. 

"I am Ganon, son of Losee. I come to lead you to a sanctuary where you can escape the Purge." Ranu narrowed his eyes, and Ganon held out his father's sword. "I escaped the slaughter of my father's people," Ganon continued, "because I was not there. I was fleeing from hunters and came to a cave where a seer foretold the future. He told me that the Kunai were in for many years of hardship, and where we could find sanctuary." 

Ranu stood and surveyed the camp before dropping his gaze back down to Ganon. "Will you fight to prove the strength of your claim?" Ranu demanded. At Ganon's nod, Ranu smiled again, but it was a smile without warmth. "Very well. If the totems wish us to follow you, you will win the battle against our strongest, and we will follow you to this sanctuary. If the totems are against you, you will leave us immediately." Ganon nodded again, watching as a fighting ground was set up by people who couldn't help but eavesdrop on the conversation. 

Drawing his father's sword, Ganon moved to the center of the fight circle and waited. The wait was short as a giant of a man strode into the circle. He inclined his head slightly as he looked down on Ganon. "I am Vigar, and I fight with Moblin the Hound by my side," the giant growled. 

"And Raab the Boar guides my arm," Ganon intoned in response. The battle had begun. 


End file.
